DAVID WHEELER: Support for gardens vital

Monday

Jul 15, 2013 at 12:01 AMJul 15, 2013 at 3:14 PM

A few weeks ago, in response to multiple instances of welfare fraud, two state officials who administer the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in Massachusetts announced that they would each try to buy enough food to eat using just $31.50 per week to help “raise awareness” of the program. This is the amount the average recipient gets in supplemental nutrition assistance – $31.50 weekly. Thirty bucks and you’re expected to get all the nutrients you need for seven days?

David Wheeler

A few weeks ago, in response to multiple instances of welfare fraud, two state officials who administer the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program in Massachusetts announced that they would each try to buy enough food to eat using just $31.50 per week to help “raise awareness” of the program. This is the amount the average recipient gets in supplemental nutrition assistance – $31.50 weekly.

Aside from being mildly amused by the gimmick and slightly unclear as to what exactly they planned to accomplish, I was dismayed to learn that the average food allowance for SNAP recipients in Massachusetts is such a paltry amount. Thirty bucks and you’re expected to get all the nutrients you need for seven days? This seems low to me.

The USDA recommends five servings of vegetables per day alone. Depending upon where you live, you’d spend more than half your allotment on produce alone, all before adding protein, dairy and grains to your diet. Considering today’s food prices, the numbers just don’t add up. And neither does the nutrition.

It’s difficult for any reasonable person to argue with both the logic in, and the benefits of, making sure everyone has enough food to eat. Proper nutrition benefits us all by preventing disease and helping our young people maximize their potential in school. Study after study has shown the positive effects of proper nutrition on academic performance as well as overall health. Despite this, more than 1 in 6 Americans face hunger every day.

Even so, there are still those who decry the practice of nutritional assistance, the same people who use terms like “welfare state” and “makers and takers” when describing our country’s population and economy. These folks do not like handouts of any kind. It’s because of this kind of thinking (and voting), that two state employees decided to “raise awareness” (or test) the SNAP system.

The problem is, they’re not really “testing” anything. If they really wanted to test the system, they’d go work a low-wage job in an urban area and do the same thing. (For a great book about this very issue, check out Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed.”)

The fact is if you’re poor or under-educated, your chances of eating healthy are greatly reduced and your access to proper nutrition is limited. In any urban neighborhood in America, it’s easier to find a McDonald’s or a liquor store than fresh produce and nutritious, affordable food.

This is why I think it’s time for government to actively support the growing of vegetable gardens. What better way to supplement one’s diet than with fresh, locally-grown produce?

Growing food is environmentally friendly (less transportation) and good for the local economy (more localized spending). Not to mention, less than 30 percent of Americans currently eat the recommended servings of fruit (2-3) and vegetables (5-7) per day anyway. Perhaps most important of all, a vegetable garden offers some good, old-fashioned self-sufficiency. There’s nothing like the feeling of eating something you grew yourself.

Given these benefits, why wouldn’t we encourage vegetable gardens in every backyard, front lawn and open space we could? And what better way to start the whole thing off than through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program?

Anyone receiving supplemental nutrition assistance, as well as anyone else who wants it, should be incentivized to grow produce, either for personal consumption or as part of a farmer’s market. Imagine the benefits if thousands of people suddenly started growing their own lettuce greens and other produce like beets, carrots, onions, and beans, all of them so easy to grow and packed with nutrients.

What’s more American than promoting self-reliance? And what better way to make our outside spaces more interesting than with a variety of plants, herbs and trees? City leaders could convert vacant lots into free community gardens, which look nicer than empty lots and overgrown median strips any day.

Am I naive enough to think everyone (or every community) would do this? No. But even if only a small subset of the population becomes local food producers, the possibilities are endless. All Americans (all people, actually) deserve access to healthy food and a chance at true self-sufficiency. With the right policies in place, locally-grown produce offers both to anyone who wants it.